Technical Field
The present invention relates to an alert control apparatus for controlling an alert to surroundings of a vehicle carrying the apparatus.
Related Art
Conventionally, a system is known that is configured to, upon detecting an obstacle likely to collide with a vehicle carrying the system (hereinafter referred to as an own vehicle), not only warn a vehicle's driver, but also alert surroundings of the own vehicle. Such a system can prevent the own vehicle from colliding with the obstacle or can prevent other vehicles and pedestrians around the own vehicle from being secondarily affected by an operation performed by the own vehicle to avoid the collision with the obstacle.
Such a system is known as configured to raise an alert at times and in manners depending on environments around the own vehicle (e.g., snowfall, rainfall, and evening hours) (see, for example, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open Publication No. 2007-38954).
The technique disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open Publication No. 2007-38954, however, may unnecessarily raise the alert even if the collision with the obstacle can be avoided by driver's steering or automated braking.
In consideration of the foregoing, exemplary embodiments of the present invention are directed to providing techniques for preventing unnecessarily raising the alert even if the collision with the obstacle can be avoided.